Current News

MTA Metro-North Railroad doesn’t want you to work hard to celebrate Labor Day! Metro-North has plenty of train service to get you where you need to go for the entire holiday weekend starting Friday, September 2, and continuing through Labor Day, Monday, September 5.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has partnered with Transit Wireless and Penguin Random House to launch Subway Reads, an eight-week long promotion that offers customers access to five free e-shorts, as well as extensive samples from full-length books, to enjoy while on the subway.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that Metro-North has completed renovation of the Croton-Harmon station’s customer waiting area. The $3.6 million project involves both station structural renovations and aesthetic improvements. The work was done in phases to allow for continual use by Metro-North customers with minimal disruption during the work.

New track laying between Central Islip and Ronkonkoma for the LIRR Double Track project is complete, and work on the final phase between Farmingdale and Central Islip is already underway and on schedule to be completed in 2018. Governor Cuomo made the announcement today in Hauppauge. The Double Track, extending from Farmingdale to Ronkonkoma, will dramatically reduce delays on the LIRR and enable more off peak service in both directions by adding 13 miles of parallel track. Together with the full MTA eTix rollout, the LIRR Third Track proposal on the Main Line, East Side Access, and four new Metro-North Stations in the Bronx, the milestone reached today moves the MTA's commuter rail priorities forward in the Governor's $100 billion Infrastructure and Development Plan for New York.

What better way to spend the day than exploring the wonderful, locally produced food and drink of Dutchess County. Enjoy a scenic ride on Metro-North to stations along the Hudson and Harlem Lines where you will board the Dutchess County Farm Fresh Link bus to various farms, shops and markets for a truly, tasty experience.

Your commute is a about to become a bit more flowery and bright thanks to new art posters. The MTA has released a new graphic arts poster commissioned by MTA Arts & Design that is inspired by a historical moment in New York City Transit history: Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 map of the subway system.
“The Growing City,” by illustrator Gina Triplett, features a giant fluorescent flower blooming with patterned petals reminiscent of Vignelli’s subway lines and of American folk art and color. The bold imagery of “The Growing City” also honors the nearly 600 community gardens throughout New York City. “Gina’s colorful, graphic work celebrates the connection that the subway creates between people and communities with its use of Vignelli’s iconic subway map,” said MTA Arts & Design Deputy Director Amy Hausmann. “We love imagining the city as a giant flower, growing bigger and more beautiful as we make the city greener through our collective work in hundreds of community gardens across the boroughs and by using mass transit.”

Spend an enjoyable day in President Theodore Roosevelt’s hometown of Oyster Bay Village, one of the most picturesque and historic areas on the North Shore of Nassau County, by taking advantage of the Long Island Rail Road’s popular discount Getaway package – available only four more weekends.
For history buffs the big attractions are the sites associated with Teddy Roosevelt, including the Roosevelt family estate at the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, which served as the summer White House from 1901-1909, his grave site at nearby Young’s Memorial Cemetery as well as Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park and the Theodore Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary.

On this guided tour, you will visit three wineries, complete with tastings at each winery and enjoy live entertainment as you sip some of the region's best wines. Enjoy epicurean delights too — with a buffet lunch and the opportunity to purchase locally grown, fresh produce at local farms. It's the perfect way to spend a day in late summer or early fall.

There’s still several weeks of summer left, and MTA’s Metro-North Railroad has your perfect station destination to enjoy the rest of the season. Go camping, explore outdoor art, or sample local, edible offerings at the local farmers markets. Beacon Station, located in scenic Dutchess County, is only 90 minutes from Grand Central Terminal and moments away from seasonal splendor.

Operation Track Sweep is in full effect. The MTA announced that it has initiated a multi-pronged plan to dramatically reduce the amount of trash on subway tracks, and in the process improve the station environment, and reduce track fires and train delays.

Testing on countdown clocks for lettered-subway lines has begun, as well as digital screens for MTA buses. Governor Cuomo made the announcement on Thursday regarding the 90-day test of countdown clocks in eight subway stations along the N, Q and R lines, with the aim of installing the clocks in all 269 lettered-line stations. In addition, the MTA today awarded three contracts to perform a pilot program on 131 buses for the installation of digital information screens – to ultimately be installed on a total of 3,600 buses. These vital investments advance Governor Cuomo’s plan to transform the MTA into an innovative, state-of-the-art system with improved customer service and first-class amenities, and are part of the $27 billion, five-year MTA Capital Program.

After nearly 80 years in the salty sea-air, the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge is getting major upgrades and repairs to its lift span mechanical and electrical systems, structural steel and grid-deck repairs, bridge painting, and new fire line system and hydrants. These systems are critical to lift operation, and ensure functionality and good working order of the Marine Parkway Bridge, a critical evacuation route.

The sixth annual Putnam County Wine & Food Fest will showcase renowned wine producers, world-class culinary professionals, great food, arts and crafts, fresh produce, and local and international musicians. Customers can take Metro-North’s Harlem Line to the Southeast station to connect with free shuttle buses to the venue that will be scheduled throughout the festival hours on both days.

The MTA has releases its preliminary 2017 budget and four-year financial plan, continuing to raise targets for administrative and managerial cost savings across all agencies and making a number of investments to improve service quality and customer experience. The agency now expects to identify additional annual recurring savings of $50 million per year starting in 2017, pushing total annual recurring savings to nearly $2 billion by 2020.

Three Metro-North employees "saw something and said something," preventing a car theft at the Harlem Line’s Southeast Station. Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti thanked the employees for their quick thinking and vigilance at Monday’s meeting of the MTA Board’s Metro-North Railroad Committee.

LIRR customers no longer have to wait until summer to take a ride to Greenport. MTA Long Island Rail Road President Patrick A. Nowakowski announced that the LIRR plans to provide weekend service to Greenport on a year-round basis.